


On Love and Parker's Bullshit

by Tooti_Fruity



Series: Cacophony and Entropy and Apathy In NYC [11]
Category: Futurama
Genre: Bender has to deal with the fallout following the events of The Autoshop Conspiracy, Homophobia, Homophobic Slurs, M/M, so get ready for that lmao
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-01
Updated: 2019-02-01
Packaged: 2019-10-20 08:22:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,762
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17618864
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tooti_Fruity/pseuds/Tooti_Fruity
Summary: Bender doesn't want to deal with the fallout of Parker's bullshit, but it looks like he's going to have to anyway.





	On Love and Parker's Bullshit

**Author's Note:**

> Normally I wouldn't say this, but you should really read The Autoshop Conspiracy to understand this fic. It's a oneshot, and it's pretty short, so you could knock out both of these pretty quick.
> 
> This fic takes place in an AU of Futurama, where everyone is human and living in the 1990s.
> 
> I hope you enjoy!

Things were never going to be easy, not after the fall out from the Parker incident.

Despite Parker being a “huge tool” (Amy’s words), he seemed well liked around the shop. People gravitated towards him; they listened to him. They _liked_ him.

Bender, despite his shortcomings, is not an idiot; he knows that the incident with Parker that culminated in the other man being fired would lead to one of three outcomes:

  1. Everyone in the shop would turn against Bender.
  2. _Almost_ everyone in the shop would turn against Bender.
  3. The shop would be divided on who was at fault.



Sullivan’s word is going to be a deciding factor in whether his staff would blame him for what happened, and luckily, he had guaranteed Bender that he would stand with him on the matter. Which would be incredibly useful, if not for the fact that Sullivan has chosen to cash in all his sick days due to a nasty stomach bug the day Bender comes back to work. Oh, sure, no one would be stupid enough to insult him to his face, but people talk. And while Bender could give approximately negative fucks about what his coworkers think of him personally, he definitely needs to maintain a sense of amity between them and himself if he wants to remain successful as a manager. The synergy of the shop may very well depend on the word of someone who, currently, isn’t even present.

Which brings us to Wednesday. Sullivan and Parker are gone, the shop has settled into an awkward silence, and Bender has resigned himself to doing paperwork in his office. No one dares to bother him, knowing that the tension is coiled tighter than a loaded gun and that any disruption could cause the worst.

Well, almost no one.

A soft knock comes at the door, and Bender swears under his breath, before gruffly calling,

“Come in,”

The door opens.

“Bender, what the hell are you doing?” Kelly says, stepping in and closing the door gently behind her so as not to attract more attention than necessary. Bender sighs.

“Baking a damn cake. What does it look like I’m doing?” he snaps. Kelly gives him a withering look.

“You don’t have to be a dick, Bender. I know things are weird right now, but hiding in your office and shutting everyone out is not going to fix anything,” she retorts. Bender groans and buries his face in his hands, mumbling,

“I know. I’m just bad at this kinda stuff. Fry is the one who gets along with everyone. I don’t know what to do,” Kelly shakes her head, sitting down on the edge of the old wood desk.

“You could start by trying to level with the staff. Sure, some of them are gonna be ignorant. Some of them may even openly challenge you because of what happened. But you need to grab the bull by the horns and confront this before it festers and infects your authority,” she says. Bender chews on this thought a little, before saying,

“I’m getting too old for this shit,” Kelly giggles, honest-to-God _giggles_ , and says,

“You’re barely twenty, Bender. Just because you act like you’re fifty doesn’t mean you are,” She gets up and saunters away, with a final, “Just think about it, Bender. You underestimate how tolerant the team can be,”

And with that, she’s gone.

******************************

_It started out innocent enough. Bender had let the rest of the staff go home a little early and stayed behind, citing the mountain of paperwork he currently needed to make a dent in. It was almost five thirty, the sky was nearly black, and he wasn’t due home for at least an hour. He had only just started putting away stray tools when the door had opened. Bender hadn’t even looked up before responding,_

_“Sorry, we’re closed. We open tomorrow at-Fry?” he said. Fry smiled softly and shrugged._

_“Leela got hung up at work, so she isn’t coming by to drive us home. She told me to let you know, so I figured I’d come here instead of calling so we could walk home together,” he explained. Bender grinned._

_“Well, that sounds good to me. I just need to get some paperwork started and finished tidying up. Then we can go,” he replied. Fry furrowed his brow._

_“I hope I didn’t interrupt your work. I know I came earlier than Leela usually gets here, so if you need to take your time, I get it,” he said. Bender smiled gratefully._

_“If you don’t mind hanging out for a bit, I need to finish some paperwork on a client’s car and finish putting away stuff that got left out. Give me twenty minutes?” he asked. Fry nodded and hummed his consent._

_“So where is everyone? I figured things would be busier than this,” he wondered. Bender shrugged._

_“Sometimes we get a slow day, especially during the week. We have such a small staff that Mr. Tillman is cool with me letting them leave a little early occasionally. The time sensitive stuff was taken care of, so I let them go,” he explained. Fry made a noise of interest._

_“That’s really nice of you, Bender. So why are you still here?” he asked. Bender laughed._

_“I have Executive Shit to take care of, buddy. Comes with being the sort-of boss. Manager? I don’t know, Tillman doesn’t really like ‘labels’, so I don’t really have a title, remember?” he said. Fry made a noise of realization and snapped his fingers._

_“Yeah! You said something about that a few weeks ago at lunch, when you were bitching about how much paperwork you had. It was that day where you were all sick and depressed, but you refused to take off, right? You called me a ‘regular night in shining armor’ when I came to get you,” Bender nodded, surprised._

_“You remember that?” he asked. Fry grinned._

_“Well, of course! What, you think I don’t listen to you when you talk about your day?” he queried. Bender shrugged._

_“I don’t know, I just didn’t think it was that important,” he said. Fry frowned at that, moving closer and taking the other’s hands in his own._

_“Of course it’s important. I like when you tell me about your job,” Fry said. Bender raised his eyebrows, nonplussed._

_“You…like to hear about cars and paperwork and the dumb shit my coworkers do?” he asked. Fry rolled his eyes and laughed._

_“No, dumbass, I like to hear_ you _talk about those things. I like hearing about it because it’s important to you,” he explained, sweetly. Bender’s heartbeat sped up, filled to the brim with affection. He glanced around the shop, checking for if anyone was lurking about, before promptly shoving Fry against the nearest wall, yanking him down by his collar, and kissing him hard._

_They remained like this for a long while, long enough that the hard, bruising pace slowed and softened, devolving into soft, languid caresses. God, did Bender love this man. He was really down for the count._

_When he finally pulled away, he gave Fry a inquisitive look._

_“Why do you taste like wax?” Fry smiled sheepishly._

_“I bit into a candle shaped like a cupcake, and by the time I realized it was a candle and not a cupcake, I was already halfway finished with it,” Bender stared at him, dumbfounded._

_“God, you’re a fucking idiot, Fry,” he groaned, shoving him back against the wall and kissing him again. The other made a soft noise of protest at being called stupid, but succumbed to the kisses nonetheless._

_Across the shop, unbeknownst to the lovers, stood a man feeling a combination of disgust, shock, and smugness; one Jayson Parker._

******************************

When Bender comes home that night, he’s emotionally exhausted. He spent the better part of the day hiding in his office. The few times he left, Jennings and Dixon had intensely glared at him and whispered to each other. Which wouldn’t normally bother Bender, but with the current social climate at work, that wasn’t a good sign.

“Bender,”

No one else was being hostile so far, but that could change very quickly. And if his own staff stood against him, well…

“Bender~”

It might be time to look for a new job.

“Earth to Bender,” Amy sing-songs, waving a hand in front of his face. “Bender, buddy, what’s up with you tonight?” He shakes his head-and himself-out of his stupor.

“Sorry, what?” he asks dumbly. She rolls her eyes.

“I was just trying to tell you that we’re having Thai tonight. Leela’s trying a new recipe, so be ready for it. But more importantly, what the hell is up with you tonight? You’ve been spacing out like crazy,” She put a hand on his arm in concern. “Is everything okay?” she asks softly.

He sighs. Normally he would tell Amy he’s fine, or to mind her own business. He’s not too keen on being emotionally vulnerable with her usually, not since their fling in high school ended so poorly. He’s found that their relationship works best when they keep things contained to lighthearted barbs at each other and jokes about their significant others.

But Fry is in the shower, and Leela is cooking, and Amy is genuinely concerned, so he decides that it can’t hurt to be honest with her.

“One of the guys at work-well, he’s not really ‘at work’ anymore, he got fired-anyways, this guy Parker found out about me and Fry somehow, and he confronted me about it this week when I went in early. And he tried to fight me, but one of my coworkers, Sullivan, pulled us apart. And now that he’s gone, his two friends are probably gonna put me through the wringer about the whole thing. And I give, like, negative fucks about what my staff thinks of me personally, yeah? But I’m sort of in charge when Tillman isn’t there, so I need at least _most_ of them to respect me and have a good vibe with me. And besides Kelly and Sullivan, I can’t tell who’s gonna be on my side about this and-” He cuts himself off. He didn’t even realize he had gone into full rant mode. Amy regards him with interest, before asking,

“Is that it?” He gawks at her.

“Is that it? What the hell do you mean? That isn’t just ‘it’, this is a big fucking deal, Wong!” he shouts. She laughs at that, and he feels himself getting even angrier. “Why are you laughing?!”

“It’s not the situation that’s funny, it’s just…you never let this stuff get to you. It’s surreal. I feel like I’m in an episode of the Twilight Zone where you suddenly give a shit about this stuff. I don’t know, can’t your coworker speak up on your behalf? Seeing as he pretty definitively took your side the other day?” she asks. Bender shakes his head at that.

“He’s on sick leave from a stomach bug, he phoned our boss yesterday about it,” She hums in acknowledgement, promptly commenting,

“So he’s gonna be gone for a few days” Bender grunts in agreement, and the two fall into an awkward silence. She thinks about it for a moment, and then she says, “I think you just need to stop laying low. I bet you’ve been hiding in your office, haven’t you?” Bender shrinks away at her accuracy, and she laughs. “That means yes, you have, doesn’t it? You said it’s just two guys who’ve been giving you shit, yeah? Just confront both of them. That’s what you do best; confrontation,”

Bender muses on this briefly, and then he barks out a laugh.

“Wong, you beautiful genius. I think that’s exactly what I need to do. Call out Jennings and Dixon and tell them whatever beef they got with me, they need to be out with it,” he says. She nods and grins.

“I am the one in school for my Masters, aren’t I? Speaking of which, I gotta finish writing a paper for my Statistical Mechanics class,” She gets up to go, and Bender takes her hand.

“Thanks, Wong. Really. I appreciate it,” he says. She waves him off flippantly.

“It’s what I do best. Now c’mon, I think Leela is probably almost done with dinner,”

******************************

“Jennings, Dixon, you got a minute?” Bender says the next day at work. The two of them share a look of disgust, then Dixon responds,

“Yeah, sure,” Bender nods and motions for them to follow him to a more secluded part of the room. When they arrive, the two of them regard him sourly.

“Well?” Jennings says, scowling.

“So we all know that your buddy Parker was just given the boot, and I can’t imagine you’re too happy about it,” he says as calmly as he can muster. Jennings scoffs.

“Yeah, not really. But that wouldn’t have happened if you weren’t such a faggot,” he sneers. Bender takes a deep breath. _Keep your cool, Rodríguez,_ he thinks. _You’re suppose to be the bigger person_.

“Yeah,” jeers Dixon. “If you didn’t shack up with your retard boyfriend, we wouldn’t be in this mess,”

Bender clenches his fists. _Fuck being the bigger person._

“What the fuck is your problem?” he hisses. They share a look.

“Our problem is you!” shouts Dixon. The rest of the shop pays attention at that, rolling out from under cars and looking up from under hoods. _Shit._

“Parker was right, you are a freak! You shouldn’t be in charge. You’re a limp wristed faggot. You probably can’t even handle the job,” Dixon snaps, and Bender responds with a very quiet and determined,

“Is faggot the only word you know? Seriously, have some originality, you stupid fucks,” he says, gradually raising his voice. _If they want a fight, they’re gonna get one._

“I can’t believe you’re even allowed here. You should be locked up somewhere so you don’t spread your fucking disease,” Jennings sneers. Suddenly, he feels a hand on his arm, and when he glances over, he sees that Kelly is by his side.

“Where was all this anger when Kelly came out?” Bender shouts. “Why does it only make you mad when it’s two dudes?”

“It’s hot when it’s two chicks,” reasons Jennings. Kelly narrows her eyes.

“You did _not_ just go there,” she snaps. “What decade you did you crawl out of? I don’t exist to fulfill your fucking fetish,” Dixon has the decency to flush slightly at this, but he continues nonetheless.

“Well, I bet no one else is okay with this! Guys, how do you feel have a queer on staff?” he shouts. The rest of the shop looks uncomfortable, before Tucker responds,

“I mean, I don’t have a problem with it. Rodríguez does his job well. Who gives a shit who he dates? It’s not our business,” She shrugs, and the others murmur in agreement. Karchowski replies next.

“Yeah, not to be all ‘I’m Spartacus’ or whatever, but I don’t think anyone else has an issue with it. It doesn’t make a difference to me,” he says. Then, Anderson comes in with,

“Honestly, when you three were gossiping about it, you were making everyone kinda uncomfortable. What about you guys?” And at that, variations of ‘yeah’ and ‘I’m okay with it’ came.

Bender suddenly felt lighter.

“If you two have a problem with me, you can take it up with Mr. Tillman. But I’m not going anywhere unless I get kicked out. You’re free to leave anytime,” he says coolly. Kelly laughs.

“Honestly Bender, you should be proud of how excited you got them. It makes you wonder if maybe they’re repressing something,” she taunts.

And with that, the two of them storm out.

Maybe they would be back, maybe they wouldn’t. But Bender feels like he’s walking on air when he addresses the rest of his employees.

“So, some of you are probably wondering what’s gone down here. Not that it’s anyone’s business, but I’m dating a man. My best friend. I’m not gay, I’m bisexual. I like all genders. And I hope you all meant what you said. I hope we can all move forward now,” he says. The group nods in consent.

Suddenly, the door opens.

“Hey everyone, what’d I miss?” Sullivan asks. Tucker gasps.

“Allen, you’re back early! You’ll never guess what happened,”

Sullivan surveys the room, Kelly and Bender standing proudly, the rest of the group being there sans Dixon, Parker, and Jennings, and with a wry smile, says,

“Oh, I could wager a guess,”


End file.
